[Your letterhead]
[Date]
Good day [recipient],
I just received information regarding your organizations Logo Design Competition and frankly, I'm quite disappointed. This type of competition (and its structure) is unethical and ultimately unfair to the graphic design community.

The competition expects designers to invest time and resources purely on speculation. Designing on Spec is not the norm, nor is it an accepted practice in the graphic design industry.

Graphic Designers are a valuable part of the communications, branding and marketing mix, trained in solving business communication problems. Your organization’s logo is its face before the public, the visual expression of its culture, mission and scope. Taking away the interaction between Client and Designer by creating a logo competition significantly reduces your chances of finding a suitable mark. It may be “pretty,” but without the research behind it, it’s bound to be off the target. So, in this highly competitive market, why would organizations such as yours feel justified in minimizing the designer's contribution?

“Historically, contests or competitions requiring the submission of new, original work have attracted the fewest number of entries from professional artists.” - Graphic Artist Guild’s Suggested Guidelines for Art Competitions and Contests http://www.gag.org/resources/compet_rules.php

“Creative competitions prevent the intimate collaboration necessary for great solutions. Competition results that are less effective than work produced in a focused, collaborative professional relationship. In a pitch, the goal is to get the job. In a relationship, the goal is to help the client win. Competitions tend to produce lowest-common-denominator kinds of solutions.” - Promax

Beyond that, it may have serious legal consequences if the design or a similar design is already in use by another group. Again, without the background homework researched by a trained designer, you can’t be sure. Is your organization really prepared to take these risks when lawsuits are piling up faster than the national debt?

Now lets turn around and look at it from a different angle, would your organization request the same of other professional service providers? Would it make sense to ask a group of attorneys to create your legal documents on speculation? Would you think to ask accountants to do your tax returns by the same method? A plumber? I seriously doubt it.

The Graphic Artist Guild has set out professional guidelines for art Competitions. Please take the time to read the information found by clicking on the link below. Hopefully, it will shed some light on what your organization is asking of the design community.
http://www.gag.org/resources/compet_rules.php

To help Clients working with Creatives - How to get the most out of a design firm – PDF download
http://www.promax.org/comm_europetrends01.pdf
“Choosing a design firm should be about getting the right resource for the project. Spec competitions turn it into something else. At worst, spec competitions are a substitute for a client doing their homework.” - Promax

Sincerely,
[your name]